Container



March 21, 1944. s. GOOKIN CONTAINER Filed Dec. 14, 1942 Fig.1

Patented Mar. 21, 1944 STATES P TENT F CONTAINER Sylvester L. .Gookin, Quincy, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application December 14, 1942, Serial No. 468,898 3 Claims. (01. 221-11) The purpose of the present inventionis to. provide an'improved container for scooping, carrying and pouring small articles such as eyelets-rivets and washers with a; viewto saving material and time in factories where such articles are used in large quantities.

In shoe factories, for example, it is necessary to replenish the hoppers of high-speed eyeleting machines two or three times per hour. It is not feasible to increase the size of the hoppers because too large a mass of eyelets would impede their emission from a hopper through the restricted port leading to a raceway. Under present conditions eyeleting operators are obliged to carry eyelets from storage bins or packing boxes and to use whatever small utensil may be at hand, often with the result that a considerable number of eyelets are spilled outside the hoppers instead of being poured into them.

To avoid wasting eyelets and to minimize interruptions due to replenishing hoppers, the present invention provides an improved container comprising a combination of features that enable it to be used first as a scoop, thereafter as a portable and temporary storage medium for a plurality of hopper replenishments, and finally as a dispensing device of the pouring type.

The essential consideration with respect to pouring the contents of the container into a hopper is that the discharge opening or spout shall be restricted to a size that will avoid spilling the contents outside the hopper, but a spout of a size required for this purpose would be too'small to be satisfactory for scooping eyelets into the container. Consequently, the container is provided with a relatively large opening through which eyelets may enter, and this opening is so situated as to admit the eyelets into the lower part of the container when the latter is laid on one side and moved endwise to scoop eyelets from a large mass in a storage bin or box. This relatively large opening may be in the end wall from which the pouring spout projects, or in the opposite end wall, but preferably in the latter which constitutes the bottom wall when the container stands upright.

The container is also provided with a hinged flap that constitutes a closureior the relatively large opening. The flap may be arranged to open outwardly or inwardly, but preferably inwardly because that arrangement enables the ingoing eyelets to open it in opposition to a closing spring without any need of a latch or fastener to maintain it in closed position at other times.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevation and partial section of a container embodying the invention in a preferred form in which the inlet opening is in the bottom while the discharge opening is in the top;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the container shovminFigl;

Fig. 3 is an elevation and partial section of a container embodying another form of the invention in which the inlet opening and the discharge opening are both in the top; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the container shown in Fig. 3.

Considering first the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the container comprises a cylindrical body portion Hi to which a handle II is affixed. The top wall I2 is frusto-conical and provided with a small circular opening l3 and a spout l4 through which the contents may be discharged when the container is tipped for pouring.

The bottom wall includes a fixed section l5 and a movable section or flap l6 each semi-circular or nearly so. The margin of the section l5 that bridges the body portion I0 is provided with tabs I51: and the corresponding margin of the flap I6 is provided with tabs Nix. These tabs are rolled to surround a hinge pin H. The opening bounded in part by a, segment (about of the body portion and in part by the margins forming the hinge has a much greater area than the discharge opening [3 and provides for rapid charging of the container. The flap I6 normally closes this large opening and is arranged to open inwardly, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1. When closed, its free margin is sustained in that position by stops I8 and a torsion spring [9 that surrounds the hinge pin.

To scoop eyelets into the container the user will 1ay it on its side with the handle uppermost and the aforesaid segment lowermost to do the scooping as it is carried into a mass of eyelets.

in a box or bin. Some of the eyelets will force open the flap I6 and enter the container. Two scooping motions are usually enough to fill the container. While the container is being used to scoop eyelets few if any once in it will run out through the spout 14 because the wall l2 then acts as a retaining wall. The body portion Ii] surrounds the sections l5 and I6 and extends far enough below them to guard the hinge and provide a base for standing the container upright on a bench.

The container shown in Figs. 3 and 4 has a large intake opening 30 and a relatively small discharge opening 23 both in the same end. This type enables some eyelets to enter through the discharge opening 'while a larger quantity enters through the intake opening. The body portion 20 is cylindrical and a handle 2| is aifixed to it. The top wall includes a fixed section 25 and a flap 26 inside the body portion and arranged to open inwardly (see broken lines in Fig. 3). These sections are each semicircular and are provided with cooperative tabs 25m and 26a: rolled to form hinge portions and to surround a hinge pin 21. A .torsion spring 29 surrounds the pin and normally closes the flap. The semicircular opening 30, bounded in part by a scooping segment of the body portion and in part by the hinge portions, is diametrically opposite the handle 2|, with reference to the center or axis of the body portion. Consequently, when the container is used to scoop eyelets "from a large mass, all or nearly all those scooped will force open the flap 26 and pass through the opening 30. Nevertheless, some additional eyelets may enter the container through the opening 23 in the spout .24 at the same time, butwhen the container is tipped todischarge eyelets the flap-will deflect them 'all to therspout which'is .affixed to the section 25. In this type of container the bottom wall 22 has no opening.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A scoop comprising a body portion formed to stand on end, two opposite end walls one of which includes a fixed section, a movable section and a hinge connecting them, the fixed section and a segment of the body portion forming an opening :through which articles may be scooped from a mass by that segment, and the movable section being arranged to close said opening but to swing inwardly to admit the scooped articles, anda carrying handle afiixed to the body por tion and located diametrically opposite the scooping segment, and one of said end walls having a restricted "opening and a spout for discharging the contents.

2. A scoop asspecified in claim 1, of which said openings are located at opposite ends of the body 5 portion.

3. A scoop-asspecifled in .claim '1, of which said openingszare bothlocated at one en'dof the body portion.

SYLVESTER J L. GOOKIN. 

